Author: Chronicle Editor

…Launches New Environmental Management Policy …Says Initiative‘ll Provide 40,000 Jobs, Ensure Public Health Safety Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Friday launched the much anticipated new environmental management policy encapsulated in the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI), expressing optimism that the development would drive the State to the desired future of achieving clean, hygienic and flood-free environment. Speaking at the soft launch of the CLI held at Agege Stadium, Governor Ambode said the initiative was an enduring solution carefully designed to address the shortcomings in the management of the environment, as well as accelerate seamless cleaning of the State. The…

The German parliament has approved a plan to fine social media networks up to 50 million euros (57 million dollars) if they fail to remove hateful postings promptly, despite concerns the law could limit free expression. Germany has some of the world’s toughest laws covering defamation, public incitement to commit crimes and threats of violence, with prison sentences for Holocaust denial or inciting hatred against minorities. Few online cases are prosecuted. The law gives social media networks 24 hours to delete or block obviously criminal content and seven days to deal with less clear-cut cases, with an obligation to report…

The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Usman, says some terminals, including that of Ikorodu, will be designated for non-oil exports. Usman disclosed this at the flag-off of the Nigeria Yam Export Programme (NYEP) to the UK held at Lilypond Container Terminal, Lagos, on Friday. She said that necessary facilities would be in place to drive exportation of solid minerals and agricultural produce through the seaports. “NPA is already prioritising some terminals, strictly for export, including the Ikorodu Container Terminal,” Usman said. Police nab notorious car thief in Enugu She, however, said that the only challenge with…

The police in Enugu say they have apprehended a man suspected to be a notorious car thief, Arinze Chinonso, who specialises in using a master key to steal vehicles. He was arrested in the act at about 1:20pm at a shopping mall on the Enugu-Abakiliki Road in Enugu metropolis. The Enugu State Police Public Relations Officers (PPRO), SP Ebere Amaraizu, said in a statement on Friday in Enugu that money alleged to be stolen and a master key were recovered from the suspect. “The Enugu State Police Command, through its operatives of the Abakiliki Road Division via intelligence information at…

Pensioners under the aegis of “Forum of 2011/12 Retired Public Servants of Osun” on Friday barricaded the entrance to the Government Secretariat, preventing workers from entering their offices. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the protest, which began on Thursday with the blocking of the Olaiya Junction in Osogbo, followed the claim by pensioners of non payment of 13 months pension and gratuity arrears by the state government. The Chairman of the group, Mr Omoniyi Ilesanmi, who addressed newsmen on the sidelines of the protest, said the action would be sustained until their demands were met. “Yesterday’s (Thursday)…

magu The acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has stated that some corrupt persons are behind the separatist agitations in Nigeria. “The root cause of the hate speeches by the Arewa and Igbo youths is corruption. Some people are actually funding them,” he said Spokesman of the commission, Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement that Magu made the remarks at the opening session of a two-day Electronic and Social Media Review and Training Conference held at the EFCC Academy in Abuja on Thursday. In the statement, Uwujaren quoted Magu as saying “people would not be…

Preventing corruption is better than curing it as recovering stolen funds is costly, acting President Yemi Osinbajo has said. ”You need to engage forensic consultants and hire other experts; even then, you will only have some hope of recovering some of what has been lost,” Osinbajo said on Thursday night. He made the observation in Lagos the 5th Annual Christopher Kolade Lecture on Business Integrity. The lecture was entitled: “Prevention is Better than Cure Even on the Issue of Corruption”. It was organised by the Integrity Organisation Ltd., an anti-corruption, research and advocacy organisation. Dr Christopher Kolade is a former…

Former Nigeria captain Nwankwo Kanu says the recent death of Ivory Coast’s Cheick Tiote should be a wake up call to act over heart problems in Africa. Tiote, who was 30, died earlier this month after collapsing as he trained his Chinese club Beijing Enterprises. Kanu battled heart problems during his career says it is time to address heart related problems on and off the field. “I’m talking to friends so we can do something to create awareness to try to help children in Africa,” Kanu said. “Tiote’s death was not good news. It’s not the first time it is…

People from six mainly Muslim countries and all refugees now face tougher US entry due to President Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban. It means people without “close” family or business relationships in the US could be denied visas and barred entry. The rules apply to people from Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, as well as to all refugees. Lawyers took up positions at US airports, offering free advice. But there was no sign of the chaos that affected travellers when the first version of the ban was brought in at a few hours’ notice in January. Booming US…

Analysts have cut their forecasts for oil prices this year and next as the prospect of a continued large rise in US production will likely slow OPEC’s efforts to cut its output to help supply match demand, according to a Reuters poll. Crude prices slipped to the lowest in almost a year last week as concern grew about the persistence of a three-year old surplus of oil inventories. “Rig counts in the (US) shale basins, the metric most widely observed to gauge drilling activity and investments, have more than doubled from last year’s lows,” said Norbert Rucker, head of commodity…